“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“”Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
I’ve been watching the whole immigration saga that’s been in the news recently with a lot of interest.
There have been marches in every city – with hundreds of thousands of people in Los Angeles and Chicago participating – all protesting the Republican party’s proposed immigration reform bill. That bill would make it a felony to enter the country illegally.
Now, the Republican’s proposal to so-called “criminalize” illegal aliens is on its face, ludicrous at best. It’s like we didn’t already have enough problems with the federal budget, so now the Republicans want to spend millions if not billions locking up illegal aliens – “punishing” them for slipping into the country without a visa.
It’s not the very stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of, but it’s close.